The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to an intelligent or advanced application, such as an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) application, for identifying the source of a redirected telephone call.
Call forwarding or redirecting services allow for subscribers to have telephone calls temporarily routed from a first number to a second number. For example, a call-forwarding subscriber may have phone calls that were originally directed to their home, forwarded to a telephone station at a vacation spot where the subscriber will be for several days. The call forwarding service allows subscribers to continue to receive their calls while away from home.
Existing caller identification services that are available for use at both analog and digital telephone stations, however, do not provide a means for users at a telephone station to which calls are being forwarded to determine whether an in-coming call was originally directed to the number or is the result of call forwarding. Such a feature would be very useful. For example, if calls are being forwarded from a telephone which is used primarily for work activities, to a telephone station that us used primarily for personal use, it would be preferably if a user could identify, prior to answering the call, whether the call is one that has been redirected from the work number.
In recent years, a number of new telephone service features have been provided by an AIN. The AIN evolved out of a need to increase the capabilities of the telephone network architecture in order to meet the growing needs of telephone customers or users. The AIN architecture generally comprises two networks, a data messaging network and a trunked communications network. The trunked communications network handles voice and data communications between dispersed network locations, whereas the data messaging network is provided for controlling operations of the trunked communications network.
While prior AIN telephone systems have addressed numerous shortcomings in the art, they have failed to address the desire on the part of telephone operators of analog and digital phones to identify whether an in-coming call is one that has been redirected from another number. It would be highly desirable if users could identify whether an in-coming call has been redirected from another number, and if so, the number from which the call was redirected. The present invention is directed to providing such a service.
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for providing redirecting caller identification. Redirecting caller identification provides a distinctive ring at the subscriber""s telephone station to identify that an incoming call has been redirected from another number. Furthermore, information clarifying the identify of the telephone station from which the call was redirected, such as the directory number and/or a name associated with the directory number, is provided to the subscriber upon receipt of a redirected call.
According to an aspect of the invention, a system for providing redirecting caller identification comprises a service switching point and a service control point. When a redirected call is received at the service switching point, the service switching point places the call on hold and forwards a request to the service control point. The service control point recognizes that the call has been redirected and formats the caller identification information associated with the call to identify the telephone number from which the call was redirected. The re-formatted caller identification information is returned to the service switching point. The service switching point forwards the call to the destination telephone station using a distinctive ring to identify that the call has been redirected. The re-formatted caller identification information, including the number of the telephone station from which the call was redirected, is forwarded to the destination telephone station.
The above-listed features of the present invention will be more fully set forth hereinafter.